Fewer jobs to go in care sector despite cuts, say ministers

Fewer jobs will go in the care sector than originally thought when reforms come into effect next year, according to a report sent to parliament by the health ministry.

In the report, health minister Edith Schippers and junior health minister Martin van Rijn say that 30,000 people will lose their job in the care sector, rather than the 60,000 originally envisaged.

This is based on the loss of 12,000 full-time positions which provide jobs for 30,000 people. The government had said earlier 27,000 full-time work places would go in order to make the necessary savings.

The improvement follows negotiations between the ruling coalition parties and the friendly opposition parties which resulted in extra money being found.

Van Rijn said it is ‘promising’ that the extra money is having an effect on the number of job losses. ‘We continue to do our utmost to keep as many jobs as possible,’ he said in the report.

Union

Healthcare union Abvakabo is unimpressed. ‘They are still talking about 30,000 job losses. That is a terrible number,’ the union’s Lilian Marijnissen told broadcaster Nos.

In addition, there is no mention of the ‘quiet’ disappearance of flexible contracts, she said. ‘Temporary contracts have not been extended over the past year but you do not find this in the statistics,’ she said.

The union still expects 100,000 jobs to go in home care, senior care and handicapped care as responsibility is shifted to local authorities at the same time as budgets are cut.

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